On This Day / August 2, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
August 2, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 2nd August 1921, IRA and RIC members cooperated during a peace pilgrimage while Bishop Joseph MacRory called for Irish self-determination. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
IRA and RIC Cooperate | On This Day – 2nd August 1921
THE annual pilgrimage to the Holy Mount of Ireland – the object of which this year was for peace – drew many thousands to the shores of Clew Bay [Co Mayo] yesterday.
The marshalling of the throng was by arrangement between the Liaison Officer for Ireland, Mr E J Duggan and Divisional Inspector Cruise, RIC, divided between the IRA and members of the RIC, the police taking the town of Westport and the IRA the outlying districts.
Archbishop Gilmartin of Tuam said the pilgrimage was not a time to refer to politics but he should congratulate them on the magnificent manner in which the truce had been observed.
Their prayer should be that it would end in a permanent and satisfactory peace.
Novena for Peace
THE following letter was addressed by his Lordship Bishop MacRory to the priests and people of Down and Connor: ‘ I trust, pray earnestly that God in His mercy may at last grant liberty to our country.
It is not alms she asks in the negotiations now going on, she demands her right, the right of every civilised and well-disposed nation to live its life in its own way according to its own ideals, the right for which the Great War was alleged to have been fought.
‘She bases her claim on the eternal principles of justice, the principles on which America entered the war…
She has no desire to injure any nation; nay, she desires to live in friendship with them all and in particular to live in friendship with England.
She is prepared to forgive if justice be done even now but she denies, and will, I hope, ever continue to deny the right of any one nation for selfish reasons to keep another in perpetual subjection …’
Helping the Refugees
EVERYONE associated with yesterday’s entertainment in the West Belfast Picture House, Albert Street should feel gratified at the result of their efforts in making the lot of the unhappy refugees as comfortable as possible. The Clann Uladh Pipe Band marched from Dunville Street.
IRA Close Village Pubs
OUR Dublin correspondent writes: By order of the IRA all public houses in the majority of villages in East Limerick have been closed until further notice.
The order is being strictly enforced by IRA pickets and it is stated that offenders will be fined fifty pounds.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: TYRONE-BORN Bishop Joseph MacRory, one of Sinn Féin’s most vocal supporters among the hierarchy, here gives vent to his support for Irish self-determination. MacRory’s views were at odds with those of the bulk of his senior priests who remained strong supporters of Joe Devlin.)
On This Day – 2nd August 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.